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Ahhh vacations. It always seems like when you pack for a vacation, no matter how many lists you make, no how careful you are checking off your list, inevitably something gets left behind. When packing for our recent trip to Europe, what got left behind was Carolyn’s Priority Pass lounge access card!

Now, in my defense, I should say that I DID bring 2 Priority Pass cards

priority-pass-access-card

It just so turns out that they were both in my name!!! Why do I have 2 Priority Pass cards? Well…. I’m not sure actually 😛 I know that I signed up for one as an authorized user on the American Express Platinum card that Carolyn got recently

(SEE ALSO: Check out the American Express Platinum credit card to gain lounge access)

(SEE ALSO: How to use the American Express Priority Pass Platinum card benefit)

How to get Priority Pass lounge access without a card

When I first realized my mistake, I was devastated. I had written before about how having lounge access was an integral part of keeping food costs down and most of the airport lounges we were planning on accessing were ones that required a Priority Pass membership. Only our over-water flights were in Business Class (granting lounge access) – all of our flights within Europe were in Economy class, and without any kind of airline status, our flights would get us no airline lounge access

I was first afraid that I had somehow signed myself up twice and Carolyn didn’t have a Priority Pass card at all, but a quick call to Priority Pass confirmed that she did in fact have an account

Priority Pass lounge access without a card – showing your account number

First I called the Priority Pass number on the back of the card

855-241-9239

After speaking to the agent, I gave her my wife’s name and address, and after confirming a few other details, the agent confirmed that Carolyn DID in fact have an account. She did also ask for the last 4 digits of her American Express Platinum card, which luckily I had with us (since that got us into the Delta SkyClub at CVG!)

After confirming all of the details, she read off Carolyn’s Priority Pass account number and expiration date, which I wrote down.

The Priority Pass agent did warn me that they have a “strict” no card, no access policy, so it would be up to the individual contracted lounges whether or not we were granted Priority Pass lounge access without a card. I put “strict” in quotation marks since, as I suspected, I didn’t seem to have a problem at any of the lounges we went to.

Did it work to get us Priority Pass lounge access with no physical card?

As I alluded to, it didn’t seem to matter that Carolyn didn’t have a physical card. At each lounge, I would tell the agent that my wife had forgotten her Priority Pass card but we had callen to get her account number, and here it was (written down on a piece of paper). Each time, the agent took the paper, input the numbers, and had her sign for access.

Here were the lounges I visited – not one of them denied us access:

  • Air France lounge at BOS – my review
  • Aspire lounge at BHD (Belfast City)
  • Aspire lounge in London (LHR Terminal 5)
  • Salon Azur lounge at NCE (Nice)
  • Avia lounge at FCO (Rome)

While some of those lounges were better than others, it was nice to get a little bit of a break from the airport and relax with food and wi-fi and a comfortable place to sit

What has been your experience? Have you ever tried to get into a Priority Pass airport lounge without a card? Did it work?


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